Collected articles

I have a backlog of various articles from the last 4 months that I meant to comment on, so much linkage follows!

Herald-Sun:

“Should Australia’s population be controlled?”, 2/10/2011. Two opposing views, that in favor by Willam Bourke, founder of the Stable Population Party of Australia.

“House prices, economic fears drive Victoria’s fertility rate down”, 26/10. One of the few inadvertent good outcomes of an economic depression. Unfortunately the birth rate fall won’t last.

“Woman abandoned seven children before falling pregnant”, 29/10. Yet another example of how warped our welfare system has become; it all but encourages people to reproduce recklessly at taxpayers’ expense.

“Student visa rush fears”, 1/11. Abuse of the international student visa system by would-be immigrants. No surprises there.

“Bindi Irwin ready to take on the world”, 5/11. The daughter of Steve Irwin is concerned about population growth – hooray!

“But as I get older I want to tackle other huge issues, such as global warming and the human population – which I think is the elephant in the room that no one wants to talk about.

“What’s interesting is that the population increases by about 270,000 per day, which means the city of Brisbane would have to be built every week to accommodate all of these people. And it’s so scary.”

18/11 – a very brief article. The only solution stated is to try to feed the increasing numbers, not stop the growth in the first place!

UNITED NATIONS: Planet in crisis

SURGING population growth and climate change are driving the planet towards episodes of worsening hunger, which only an overhaul of the food system will, a panel of experts says.

“Baby capital Casey ahead of the rest with a runaway birthrate”, 25/11. Not something to be pleased about.

“The best doctors are only human”, 28/11. The dilemma on how far doctors should go to keep very premature babies alive as technology progresses. I would side with pragmatism and say there should be a cut-off point; before that, let nature take its course on whether the baby lives or dies. That policy, though, would incite an outcry (“Babykillers!”) as it is an emotive topic. But 1) it is hugely expensive to care for premature infants, who might be severely disabled because of being born too early and 2) the world is overpopulated as it is.

“Growling grass frog cost $2.6 billion”, 29/11. An endangered species of frog is holding up a housing development. Unfortunately the current Liberal State Government is in sympathy with the developers. I would like to see property developers become an endangered species (preferably shot on sight).

“Spending slashed by $11.5 billion to achieve budget surplus”, 29/11. Reducing the baby bonus as a cost-saving measure provoked a huge outcry, despite the reduction being a mere $500 ($5437 to $5000). “It’s just a crying shame, says mum” is one whinging mother’s reaction. Suck it up, lady! This shows how entitled a lot of people have become. The extravagance should have been cut out altogether.

“Nirvana away from building where wildlife won’t croak”, 6/12. An absurd proposal to move endangered animals away from proposed development sites. Would you like to be evicted from your house to make way for a development? (Well, that does happen, come to think of it, and it obviously is upsetting for the people being evicted, so it would be for animals too.)

“Population debate: Melbourne bursting at the seams”, 15/12. Planning Minister Matthew Guy challenges resident action groups to come up with answers on where to house Melbourne’s rapidly growing population. He cluelessly does not support reducing immigration, but it would certainly help. My own suggestion is to do this, and also to put a population cap on Melbourne to keep it livable and require residency permits for anyone wanting to move there (with preference given to Victorian residents and citizens). No room – no permit.

“Detainees on the run after breakout”, 9/1/2012 (and another article). No surprises that immigration detainees would try to escape! I wonder what the idealistic fools who want to release illegals into the community have to say about these sort of incidents.

From The Age:

“Home buyers priced out”, 11/12/2011. No surprises, as investors are favored through the morally bankrupt negative gearing scheme, and the high immigration rate. There are plenty of vacant houses, as a recent report revealed, but the wrong people are buying them up. I would like to see negative gearing abolished and investment properties seized by the government and given to renters (or else rented out by the government).

“Pressure to select site of third Melbourne airport”, 15/1/2012. Another symptom of excessive growth. And the ill-advisedly-privatized airport still does not have a rail link to the city.

“Give boat people a go: Baillieu”, 15/1. Idiotic opinion of the Premier. So illegals should be given the same benefits as those who try to immigrate the legal way? Bugger that! No wonder the welfare system is under strain. We should withdraw from the UN refugee treaty (which is outdated).

“Australia a ‘soft touch’ for asylum”, 22/1. That we certainly are. The number of “boat people” being intercepted each month has reached ridiculous levels. My own policy toward this issue would be a lot harsher.

“Liberals close door on green wedges advocate”, 23/1. The Liberal Party clearly don’t want any member opposing their policy of open-slather property development.

“Lost Irish generation finds its lucky break here”, 23/1. Australia is regarded as a “relief valve” for those from countries with troubled economies, such as is currently the case with Greece and Ireland. This trend should be actively discouraged!

“Bird flu mutation sparks fears of deadly pandemic”, 4/2. Scientists created a mutation of the bird flu that could be more readily transmitted and that that “could kill half the world’s population”. Another argument against high density living is that it allows pandemics to spread easily. (Wikipedia page)

“5800 more people, still no facilities”, 9/2. Development outpacing infrastructure, and yet more open land disappearing under housing estates.

Other sites:

“Moscow to double in geographical size to ease overcrowding”, Guardian, 14/7/2011. Moscow is also being ruined by overdevelopment, its forested regions under threat; its population is a staggering 11.5 million (as of 2010). The few opponent groups there are even less empowered than those in Australia.

“$200 billion plan for influx of two million people”, Stonnington Leader, 15/11. A nightmarish scenario, and one which many are opposed to. Melbourne’s much-touted livability will be utterly ruined; it is heading that way already.

“High-density housing rejected for pursuit of suburban dream”, Adelaide Now, 21/1/2012. Adelaide is also threatened by growth, though it is not as bad as Melbourne and Sydney – yet. Its government is also obsessed with growth. Not surprisingly, many people prefer low-density living to being crammed in to high-rise apartments like battery hens.

And that’s most articles out of the way. Phew!